Turnaround of a Complex International HR MDM Project in Insurance

Mandated as a senior consultant to take over a struggling global HR MDM project, my role was to redirect a program initially focused on a technology decision toward a true business-led initiative. The project was under high organizational stress, misaligned between HR and IT, and under strong pressure from product-oriented vendors. The intervention restored governance, reengaged the business teams, structured the methodology and repositioned MDM as a strategic lever rather than a tool selection exercise.

Context

The group, operating in more than 60 countries, was running a program to select a global HR reference data platform. The project dynamic had deteriorated:

• loss of business control
• overload of technical information that was difficult to interpret
• vendor demonstrations centered on technology, with no clear connection to HR flows
• no shared methodological framework
• rising stress, growing tension and a real risk of program failure

Objectives of the Intervention

• restore clear and calm governance
• enable HR business teams to retake project leadership
• frame the analysis around the group's real needs
• force vendors to demonstrate business value rather than technology alone
• create a methodological framework for an informed and aligned decision

Structured Approach

1. Business Teams Retake Control

I led a series of reappropriation workshops that helped HR teams understand MDM not as a technology, but as:

• a governance discipline
• a global data model
• a golden-record management framework
• an ownership and responsibility model. These sessions were decisive in transforming the project: business teams quickly reengaged in the decisions.

2. Reducing Project Stress and Rebuilding Working Relationships

I clarified responsibilities, defined a framework for expressing needs, and created a shared language between HR, IT and vendors. This structure immediately reduced mental and operational pressure.

2. Deep Business Analysis. The analysis was refocused on critical needs:

• international mobility and transfer of rights
• benefit variations by country
• legal hierarchy and global reporting
• complete career history
• management of legal entities and business units. A pragmatic flow map was built to identify the real business constraints.

4. Strict Vendor Framing

J’ai imposé une méthodologie obligeant chaque éditeur à :

• démontrer la couverture des cas d’usage réels du Groupe
• illustrer la gestion des flux RH complexes
• prouver la capacité à supporter la gouvernance RH mondiale
• sortir des discours techniques et montrer l’opérationnelCette approche a permis d’éliminer le bruit marketing.

5. Construction du cadre décisionnel

The final choice was no longer based on product sheets, but on:

• fit with HR processes
• the ability to manage international mobility
• the flexibility of the global data model
• the robustness of governance workflows
• the vendor's ability to operate internationally

Results Achieved

• project stabilized within a few weeks
• strong reengagement from HR business teams
• full alignment between HR, IT and group governance
• vendors refocused on business value
• a durable and reusable methodology put in place
• internal trust rebuilt around the program

Conclusion

This intervention shows the value of a senior consultant able to take over a global program in crisis: turning a misdirected technical project into a structured, governed initiative fully led by the business. The MDM approach again became a strategic lever, decisions became clearer, and the group could move toward a solution genuinely suited to its global HR processes.

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